Welcome back to the start of another thrilling week of Wild Facts. We are going to learn about some pretty amazing animals this week and to kick it all off, we are heading to Madagascar to study the Panther Chameleon. I am sure you noticed from the picture that they have a pretty impressive colour display. As you might expect with Chameleons, their colour is a big part of their life so we will have to talk more about this in a few moments. Okay, so grab your field gear and lets head out to the amazing forests of Madagascar.

The Panther Chameleon is a fairly large reptile with males measuring up to 50 cm (20″) in length while the females are about half this size. This size discrepancy is not the only difference between male and female Panther Chameleons. As we have seen time and time again with animals, the males are also much more brightly coloured than their female counterparts. Typically the colour of the male will vary depending on their location, however, they will usually be a vibrant mix of blue, red, green, yellow and orange. The females on the other hand will be a boring old tan and brown colour with a little bit of pink or orange thrown in for good measure. Interestingly enough, the colour of the females doesn’t change based on location.

During mating season, the Panther Chameleon never has to worry about taking a pregnancy test since once the female begins carrying eggs she will turn to a dark brown colour with a nice orange stripe. This pretty much tells all the other males in the area to “leave her alone”, which is a pretty neat trick. It seems being left alone is a natural feeling for the Panther Chameleon since other than mating season they all lead very isolated lives. Like other Chameleons, the Panther variety is also very territorial and will always defend their home range. This makes sense since it is always a good idea to protect your investments and a home is one of the biggest investments a Chameleon will have.

Panther Chameleon Fast Fact – If you are stunned by the beautiful colours of the Panther Chameleon then you may be happy to hear that they have become quite popular in the pet trade. Before rushing out and buying one though, you need to realize that they can be difficult to keep since they need to have very specific living conditions.

Well that does it for the first Wild Fact of the week. I can’t wait to see you tomorrow for a brand new animal. Enjoy the rest of your day and I will talk with you again, real soon.